<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>In the Middle of the Night by orphan_account</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23370649">In the Middle of the Night</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Ups and Downs of Parenting [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Brotherly Love, Fluff and Humor, Hide and Seek, Mikey's a Sneaky Little Shit, Protective Older Brothers, Protective Siblings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:48:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,477</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23370649</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikey runs away.</p><p>Or, does he?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Ups and Downs of Parenting [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682140</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In the Middle of the Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Something wasn't right. He couldn't pinpoint what, but it was clear that tonight something was out of the ordinary. Yes, there was the typical lively chatter coming from the television, Donnie was crammed in his lab as usual, and Raph was busy working out. In the living room, Mikey could be seen watching Tv upside down on the couch, smiling widely like he normally did.</p><p>Except... <em>no he wasn't</em>. <em>That's what was wrong</em>.</p><p>"Mikey's not here." Leo whispered to himself, hurriedly turning to race towards Mikey's room. With a grunt, Leo forced his baby brother's door open, looking around intensely with labored breathing. No sign of Mikey was anywhere, and his room was- dare Leo say -<em>cleaner than ever</em>. Food, comic books, and general nuisances of dirty clothes weren't scattered along the floor like normal, Mikey's sheets were clean, and his bed was neatly made. Everything had been dusted, the floor was swept, mopped, and waxed, and the entire area looked like a well-kept hotel room.</p><p>"Whoa. When did <em>this</em> happen?" Raph asked, not commenting on Leo's sudden shriek of surprise. The red-clad turtle's arms were crossed, and his electric green eyes scanned the room. "Did tha chucklehead finally get tired of jumping around piles of shit every day?"</p><p>Leo didn't respond, still trying to recover from his shock. When he did, it was replaced with horror, and he turned to look at Raph. "WHERE IS HE?!"</p><p>"Agh! Can ya be any louder?!" Raph shouted, pushing Leo away. "And how am <em>I</em> s'posed to know, Fearless?"</p><p>"What's with all of the screaming? I can hear you from my lab!" Donnie huffed, standing between his older brothers. When he glanced into Mikey's room, Donnie paled, reeling back at the sight. "Who... did... <em>this?"</em></p><p>"Who else would do this, Brainiac? Santa Clause? The Easter Bunny? Jack Frost?" Raph scoffed, absentmindedly naming off Mikey's favorite holiday icons. Donnie rolled his eyes, looking around for any clues. Nothing was found, and Donnie thought over the situation before gasping.</p><p>"His phone! I can track his phone!" Donnie shouted, leading his brothers into his lab. It didn't take long for Donnie to locate Mikey's phone, but- to the trio's horror and dismay -Mikey had apparently left his phone at home, making it all the harder for him to be found. "This doesn't make sense! It's as if he <em>knew</em> that we were going to be looking for him!"</p><p>"If that's tha case, then why would he run off in tha first place?" Raph asked, his mood fluctuating between anger, confusion, and fear. An unknowing shrug was all Raph received, frustrating Raph even more. "Why would he even run away? There's nothin' he could possibly gain! He's got everything he needs right here! Food, Tv, a bed, <em>us!</em> I just don't get it!"</p><p>"Neither do I." Donnie sighed, scratching his chin in the way he normally did when thinking. "What do you think, Leo?"</p><p>At first, Leo didn't say anything, lost in thought as he processed what the group had been saying. Soon enough, the answer hit the leader like a brick, and his face twisted into a look that seemed like a mixture of a smile and a sneer. "I think I know what's happening here."</p><p>"What? What's happening?!" Raph asked angrily, having become annoyed with the constant pauses in answering.</p><p>"If I tell you, both of you <em>have</em> to promise that you won't kill Mikey when we get him back." Leo instructed. Raph and Donnie nodded cautiously. "Well, to put a long story short... Mikey wants us to play a game with him."</p><p>"He... huh?" Raph muttered, looking at Donnie, who had an unimpressed look on his face.</p><p>"Our baby brother has just started a game of Hide-and-Seek."</p><p>_________________________________</p><p>Mikey giggled loudly as he hid under April's bed, squirming and squealing every two minutes. Not even three hours ago had Mikey arrived at April's house, begging her immensely to use her apartment to play with his brothers. Understandably, the redhead was wary at first, but gave in to Mikey's trademark baby blue puppy eyes.</p><p>"Little dude, you aren't gonna last very long under there if you keep making so much noise." Casey snickered, crouching down to look at his youngest friend. Mikey smiled widely in response, squeaking and chirping as his tail thumped against the carpet. "Though, in all honesty, I'm surprised that they haven't found you yet. This is, like, the most <em>obvious place</em>."</p><p>"Exactly! Which is why they haven't looked here yet! It's called Reverse Physiology! I'm staying here because they think I'm too dumb to be in such an obvious place!" Mikey exclaimed.</p><p>"Pretty sure that's... not true. But, if that's what you need to tell yourself, rock on." Casey hummed, standing up and leaving April's room. When the door closed, Mikey silenced himself for the first time in a while, listening for any sign that his brothers had arrived.</p><p><em>Knock, knock,</em> knock!</p><p>"Yes!" Mikey whisper-shouted. His bros are gonna be <em>so pissed off</em> when they find him, but it would be <em>so worth it!</em> Seconds later, Mikey heard Leo talking to April, asking if she or Casey had seen Mikey. Two very convincing denials were given, and Mikey heard Raph growl loudly.</p><p>"Casey, if yer lyin' to me, I will ground you into a pulp!" Raph warned. Mikey snickered, imagining how upset Raph must have looked. Casey then started claiming that neither of the humans had seen Mikey, and it was soon starting to seem as if the ploy was working.</p><p>That is, until a bit of dust made its way into Mikey's nose.</p><p><em>"ACHOO!"</em> Every voice from the other side of April's bedroom door silenced, and Mikey started to become terrified as he heard three pairs of feet storming towards him. A rush of adrenaline sent Mikey rushing out from under the bed, racing into April's closet and covering his mouth. Seconds later, Mikey heard April's door being opened, and caught a glimpse of his brothers walking in before silently closing the closet door the rest of the way.</p><p>"Is he under the bed?" Mikey heard Leo ask. A low grunt from Raph followed.</p><p>"He isn't in her stuffed animal pile." Donnie announced. "That leaves only one more place."</p><p>Mikey's breath hitched, and he forced down a snicker, closing his eyes as if it would make his brothers suddenly disappear. No footsteps came up towards the closet, however, and Mikey tilted his head in confusion. Unbeknownst to the youngest of the bunch, his brothers had already circled around the closet.</p><p>"Well, I guess we should leave then. We won't be finding him here!" Leo sighed, he and the others moving in place, making each step softer to trick Mikey into thinking he was safe. When all was silent, Mikey hummed, reaching for the closet door, and daring to peek his head out.</p><p>"EEP!" Mikey yelped, pulling the door shut effective immediately.</p><p>"Oh, I don't think so!" Raph shouted, tugging at the door in retaliation. "We found ya fair and square! Now get out here so I can beat ya to a pulp for scarin' us!"</p><p>"NO!" Mikey responded, using all of his strength to keep the door closed. "I'm not found until someone tags me! It's Hide-and-Seek Tag!"</p><p>"Since <em>when?"</em> Donnie asked, watching as Raph finally pulled the door off its hinges, sending Mikey flying out of the closet. A futile attempt to run away was made, and Leo frowned as he kept a tight grip around Mikey's midsection.</p><p>"Come on, let's get him home." Leo sighed, dragging Mikey away.</p><p>"No! Donnie! Help me!" Mikey whined, pouting at the head shake he received. "But, I cleaned my room!"</p><p>"A good point." Leo hummed, pulling Mikey closer. "And since you did such a good job, your punishment will be to clean the entire lair until it looks as spotless as your room did when we found out you were missing."</p><p>"Leo? Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Mikey asked, clearly trying to get himself out of trouble. "You're the best brother of all! Gee-Golly-Gosh! I wish so much that I could be like you!"</p><p>"Mhm." Leo replied, saying nothing as Mikey's head was flicked by Raph. "Next time, just tell us when you want to play a game."</p><p>"How about you just ask me when I want to hang out, jackass?" Mikey grumbled under his breath.</p><p>"And now you're grounded."</p><p>"Oh, goddamn it!"</p><p>"Hehe, looks like you found him." Casey chuckled, shrugging at Raph's death glare. "At least he was somewhere you could get to him without destroying anything."</p><p>Each turtle paled at that comment, and they quickly said their goodbyes as they left. In confusion and slight fear, April and Casey traveled into her room, one screaming in fear, and the other bursting into laughter - respectively, of course.</p><p>"I'm going to KILL THEM!"</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>